BELGIUM NEED NUCLEAR
Vladimir Vinogradov
WOGNEWS.NET, Global Energy Market Climate Changes News. Новости мирового энергетического рынка, изменений климата.
Belgium's nuclear phase out is based on legislation passed in 2003 that prohibited the building of new reactors and the service lives of existing ones to 40 years. This has already been reconsidered once, in 2007, when a commission set up by the government concluded the closures would double the price of electricity and harm energy security. After a further report in 2009, the government prolonged the lives of some reactors so that the mandated shutdowns would not begin until 2025. Since March 2018,?Belgium's policy has been to subsidise new gas power plants via capacity payments to directly replace most of the lost nuclear generation.
Belgium's coalition federal government, led by De Croo, signed an agreement on 30 September 2020 reaffirming its policy to phase out nuclear power in the country by 2025. Under the plan, Doel 3 and Tihange 2 will be shut down in 2022 and 2023, respectively. The newer Doel 4 and Tihange 3 will be shut down by 2025.?However, the agreement also called for a report on Belgium's security of electricity supply and the impact on electricity prices of the nuclear phase-out and the planned implementation of a capacity market. If the report - to be completed by November this year - shows potential supply problems, the government would review plans to allow for the retention of 2 GWe of nuclear generation capacity. This could pave the way for a lifetime extension of Doel 4 and Tihange 3.